Katie Hopkins has defended her reaction to a car crash at the Natural History Museum on Saturday, after she wrongly implied that the accident was a terror attack, sparking widespread condemnation and confusion.

The columnist said she stands by a series of tweets – despite later deleting them – and cast doubt on the police verdict that the crash was a road traffic accident.

The initial police response prompted fears of another attack on London, but the Metropolitan police said the incident was not terrorism.

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DC Darren Case, from the roads and transport policing command, added:“Because of where this collision occurred and the number of pedestrians involved, I fully appreciate the concern and alarm this incident caused. Inquiries have established that this incident is not terrorist-related”.

Joined by other prominent rightwingers including Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson, Hopkins used Twitter to blame Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, for the capital not being “worth the risk”. The former Apprentice candidate also accused the BBC of peddling “state propaganda”, despite no official confirmation that the incident was a terror attack.

She later removed the comments, adding: “I am deleting all tweets from the last two hours. I hope you stay safe.. Xx”

But, speaking at a Media Society event on Monday with the Guardian journalist Decca Aitkenhead, the Mail Online writer repeatedly argued that “there is no such thing as truth any more” and said she “didn’t buy” that it was a road traffic accident.

Eleven people were injured during the incident. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters

She said: “Eleven injured, major tourist destination, a driver mounts pavement. I have emails sitting in my inbox from people who were there who said the driver drove at them.

“‘He deliberately drove at me’ – that quote is used on a number of occasions and I posted those tweets and compared them to the BBC, in order to ask people to make up their own mind about their reading of the event. I wasn’t really trying to infer one way or another.”

Asked if her tweets encouraged the belief that this was a terror attack, she replied: “No, I think they were very much encouraging people to see that this looks like a terror attack and I stand by those. I stand by the idea that it’s a terror attack. I don’t shy away from that. It’s my personal opinion.”

“Why did all the police arrive and tell people to ‘run, run, run’?” she asked a largely supportive audience in central London. “I think people should be scared. I think they should be running. We are cowed. This city is afraid.”

Hopkins’ initial outburst was met with widespread criticism and accusations that the event had been exploited to further a political agenda.

Critics also claimed her input had added to chaos and confusion at the scene, where 11 people were injured. A 47-year-old man was arrested before being released on Sunday under investigation, according to police.

Earlier this year, Hopkins left her job as an LBC radio host after calling for “a final solution” following the Manchester bombing, but subsequently deleted her tweet, reportedly claiming it was a “typo” and that she had meant to write “true solution”.

She has involved herself in a host of attention-grabbing antics, and provoked a critical response from the UN when she labelled refugees “cockroaches” in a column for the Sun.